Commentary

Internet Telephony, With Features, Gaining Popularity

Internet Telephony, With Features, Gaining Popularity

The study High Speed Internet: Challenges and Opportunities 2004, recently released by Horowitz Associates, shows that 28% of dial-up users in the survey are considering or have already decided to get broadband service of some kind.

Awareness of VoIP is high among Internet users in this study, with 39% of Internet consumers saying that they are likely to subscribe to telephone service from the cable company, if it included features such as unlimited local and unlimited long distance telephone calls.

Ted Livingston, President of Livingston and Company, comments that "Consumers are much more sophisticated now in their understanding of broadband, and more aware of their choices in terms of service providers."

Other findings in the survey include:

- 26% of dial-up customers in the survey think cable providers do a better job of advertising the advantages of their product, compared to 17% who say DSL providers do the better job.

- The findings of the study imply that consumer perceptions may be impacted more by the marketing of the services than by consumers' actual experiences with the service itself. While consumers credit cable modems with being "faster" than DSL, broadband users know very little about the speed of their actual service. DSL service, on the other hand, is widely credited as being "cheaper," yet the average, reported monthly cost for DSL service is only three dollars less than the average reported cost reported for cable modem service.

- Among dial-up users in the study, only 5% say they tried broadband and have since returned to dial-up.

Howard Horowitz, President of Horowitz Associates, says "The issue going forward is not so much whether a household will subscribe to HSI but from whom will they get the service, and how well that provider will be able to retain that customer."

You can find out more here.

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